Conventional ammunition reloading apparatuses replace spent primers in spent shell casings with new primers as part of the overall reloading process. As this reloading process is typically carried out as a single-stage process, there is generally no opportunity with such conventional apparatuses to inspect or clean the primer bore after removal of the spent primer. As conventional primers are by their nature incendiary devices, firing of such primers typically results in deposition of powder residue, e.g., carbon, on and around the primer bores of spent shell casings.
If not cleaned prior to reloading the spent shell casing, such residue can potentially cause improper seating of reloaded primers which can lead to increased misfire rates with reloaded shell casings as compared with OEM shell casings. As such, it is desirable to remove spent primers from spent ammunition shell casings to allow complete cleaning of the case, including the primer bore, prior to any subsequent reloading operations.